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Attention Needed for Main Street, Not Just Wall Street

Date: Sept. 18, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Finance and Banking Government Budget and Spending Housing and Property


ATTENTION NEEDED FOR MAIN STREET, NOT JUST WALL STREET -- (House of Representatives - September 18, 2008)

Ms. KAPTUR. American taxpayers, think about this: So far this year the Bush administration has put you on the hook for $30 billion to prop up an investment house on Wall Street, Bear Stearns. Now you have been pledged to insure $200 billion to $2.4 trillion for the stock of loss-plagued Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And taxpayers this week have been put on the hook for the insurance company American International Group to the tune of $85 billion. It seems like for Messrs. Paulson and Bernanke, any blank check for Wall Street can't be bigger. Every day it gets bigger.

Now, what about Main Street? In the State of Ohio, we are hemorrhaging with mortgage foreclosures. There are no workouts. Messrs. Paulson and Bernanke haven't come to Ohio to make some of that cash available. Ohio needs $20 billion to do workouts now. We will have over 100,000 more foreclosures this year. All that legislation we passed here in Congress, it has no bite, because it isn't helping people now.

We need some attention to Main Street, not just Wall Street.


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